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August 2, 2012

Playing with Uencounter.me and Loving it!

Uencounter.me is a very cool site. It's a virtual pin map site which allows you to mark significant events on a map and designate the timeframe for the event. There's a social aspect to it too as you can link to others who are using it. Best of all it's free!

It's great for genealogists and I've been playing around in it for a few weeks now. When I first tried this site out there was a problem with date choices in the drop down menu which didn't start early enough. I knew the site was new and so minor glitches were to be expected. I sent an email about the date issues, received an immediate response and the problem was corrected very quickly.

A week or so later I encountered another glitch with the Google map search. Again I reported it and by next morning it was fixed by the site developer. And I was informed by email that it was now working properly. Immediate response and fast action to overcome glitches - it doesn't get any better!

Some ideas for genealogists based on my experiences with Uencounter.me:

* Mark an ancestor's residence in various years

* Drop pins for events such as a birth, death or marriage of an ancestor.

* Track an ancestor's migration pattern by dropping pins along his or her route.

I'm sure readers will come up with many more ways to use this site.

When you first log in there are various choices represented by circular icons on the top right: Build your map; Say thanks; Find Someone. I've only used Build your map so far and it's easy.

Just use the built-in Google map to find the location you want for a pin. Then enter your information using the drop-down menus (how easy is that!). The colour of the pin is automatically chosen by the category you choose. Yes, genealogy is a category

Olive Tree Genealogy Profile Page

Uencounter.me recently added the ability to create user profile pages and I've got one under Olive Tree Genealogy So if you are using Uencounter.me drop me a link request and we can link together.

I like this site and plan on spending more time here and dropping many more pins.

8 comments:

Will also play with this, thanks.I had been looking for some way to mark a map with ancestor locations in order to figure out where they were and then where they might go. Might be able to use this service to aid in doing that.FTM is limited in its mapping to an individual's movement and not being able to create an ever widening circle as ancestors move about.

Lorine, I just want to comment to your readers who are requesting different maps/pins etc to track different branches of family members... we are creating this as we speak! It's been on our list since so many genealogy enthusiastic began using the site and telling us it would be beneficial. We have attempted to prioritize items and the custom mapping is the NEXT big feature to roll out. Keep your fingers crossed that it will be within a week or two. I promise to let you know when it goes live! Thanks again for the post... your readers have been dropping a ton of pins!

I still prefer HistoryPin to Uencounter.me. HistoryPin allows you to create collections (aka, by Surname) and tours (chronologies), and allows you to embed those on to another website -- such as a family history website or blog.

However, HistoryPin does require that you actually pin a digital object (photo, video, audio, document, etc.) rather than just an event.

Hi Lorine! Just wanted to let you know I wrote a blog post about uencounter.me and included a link your uencounter.me post at http://janasgenealogyandfamilyhistory.blogspot.com/2012/08/mappy-mondayfun-with-uencounterme-and.html

New!

Death Finds a Way: A Janie Riley Mystery by Lorine McGinnis SchulzeJanie Riley is an avid genealogist with a habit of stumbling on to dead bodies. She and her husband head to Salt Lake City Utah to research Janie's elusive 4th great-grandmother. But her search into the past leads her to a dark secret. Can she solve the mysteries of the past and the present before disaster strikes?

I'm an incurable collector of
antiques, an avid genealogist and a messy but creative cook! I blog, i write history and genealogy books. My main genealogy website is Olive Tree Genealogy http://olivetreegenealogy.com/

Lorine is the author of many published genealogical and historical
articles and books available at
http://LorineSchulze.com